Bayer, Natco cancer, generics news
On March 26, the Delhi High Court barred Natco from exporting a generic version of Bayer's Nexavar sorafenib for kidney and liver cancer. Natco said it has only been selling the drug to distributors in India and added that it "cannot be faulted" if purchasers or retailers sell the drug abroad. In the case, Bayer Corporation vs. Union of India and ORS, the court did grant Natco permission to apply to the court to export the drug if it obtains permission from India's Drug Controlling Authority for "clinical purposes." The high court, which is a level below India's Supreme Court, granted the companies six weeks to file counter affidavits. Bayer declined to comment.
In March 2013, India's Intellectual Property Appellate Board (IPAB) upheld a 2012 decision granting Natco a compulsory license. Bayer was appealing the license, which the Indian Patent Office granted in March 2012 because Bayer did not make Nexavar available to the public at a "reasonably affordable price." In September 2012, IPAB rejected a petition from Bayer for a stay of the order granting the compulsory license while the appeal was pending (see BioCentury, March 19, 2012; Sept. 24, 2012 & March 11, 2013). ...